Putin launches massive blitz on Kyiv with 250 drones & 14 missiles
Massive fires were seen raging across Kyiv's skyline after the heavy blitz
Sayan Bose,
Putin launches massive blitz on Kyiv with 250 drones & 14 missiles just hours after beginning of bigger prisoner swap
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VLADIMIR Putin overnight launched a massive blitz targeting Ukraine's capital city Kyiv in one of the war's heaviest airstrikes.
Dozens were injured after the Russian forces launched some 250 drones and 14 Iskander-M ballistic missiles in one of the biggest combined aerial attacks to date.
Large fire over Kyiv at night.
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An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone strikeCredit: Reuters
Large fire at night.
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Heavy fire was seen in Kyiv after the attackCredit: X
Woman holding a dog amidst broken glass on a street in Kyiv, Ukraine.
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A woman carries her dog as she walks on a street with pieces of broken glass at the site of a residential building that was damaged after the Russian attackCredit: AP
Drone explosion over a city at night.
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An explosion of a drone is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strikeCredit: Reuters
Massive fires were seen raging across Kyiv's skyline after the heavy blitz.
Plumes of smoke were seen billowing from civilian buildings in Ukraine's night sky.
The air raid alert in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours overnight, warning of incoming missiles and drones.
A fire broke out in apartments on the third and fourth floors of a five-storey residential building in the Solomianskyi district.
Another fire broke out on the balconies of a nine-storey building in the Obolonskyi district, Pravada reports.
Emergency workers and Kyiv's fire teams were seen working to rescue people from the targeted sites.
The air blitz came just hours after Russia and Ukraine began the biggest prisoner exchange since the start of the war - swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky called it a "difficult night for Ukraine" and said all the strikes targeted civilian population.
He wrote on X: "250 strike drones, the absolute majority of them Iranian 'Shaheds' and 14 ballistic missiles.
"Odesa, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kyiv, Dnipro regions suffered damages. All strikes targeted civilians. There are fatalities."
Tymur Tkachenko, acting head of Kyiv military administration, said the debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least four city districts of the Ukrainian capital early Saturday.
According to Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack, and two fires were sparked in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv.
The State Emergency Service said: "Information on possible casualties is being confirmed."
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Kyiv's mayor Vitalii Klitschko warned residents of more than 20 Russian strike drones heading towards the city.
As the attack continued, he said drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in the Obolon district of Kyiv.
Local resident Yurii Bondarchuk said the air raid siren started as usual, and then the drones started to fly around as they constantly did.
Moments later, he heard a boom and saw shattered glass fly through the air.
The balcony was totally wiped out, as well as the windows and the doors, he said, describing the damage to his apartment.
Drone explosion over Kyiv at night.
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An explosion of a drone is seen over the city during a Russian drone strikeCredit: Reuters
Drone explosion over Kyiv at night.
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An explosion of a drone is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strikeCredit: Reuters
Firefighters clearing debris from a damaged residential building.
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Firefighter clear debris from a balcony at a residential building damaged after a Russian attack in KyivCredit: AP
The prisoner swap on Friday was the first phase of a complicated deal involving the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from both Russia and Ukraine.
It will be the largest prisoners and civilians swap since the start of the war.
Scenes of crying and skinny Ukrainian soldiers being returned home after imprisonment have been seen before.
Swaps have gone ahead throughout the war, with each side releasing footage of bitter-sweet reunions.
But President Donald Trump hopes the latest swap could be the first step in a peace deal, after Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks in Istanbul last week.
Trump also spoke to Putin on the phone for a straight two hours earlier this week in a bid to put an end to the war.
He said after the call negotiations are set to begin "immediately"
Hailing the swap deal, he wrote on Truth Social: "A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine.
“It will go into effect shortly. Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???”
Group of bald men with Ukrainian flags draped over their shoulders.
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Ukrainian prisoners of war after being returned to their country by Russia on FridayCredit: Reuters
Two men embrace, wrapped in a Ukrainian flag.
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The soldiers hugged friends and family members on their returnCredit: Reuters
Soldiers clapping on a bus.
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Russian prisoners on a bus after being released by Ukraine in a previous swapCredit: Getty
Putin spoke to Russian state media after coming off the call and admitted that he must make a peace deal with Ukraine.
He described the conversation as "very productive" and "quite candid" which was "highly useful".
The tyrant also said that Russia is "ready to work with the Ukrainian side" on a possible future peace agreement, but both sides must be willing to compromise.
President Zelensky said the first phase of the prisoner swap brought home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend.
Russia's Defence Ministry said it received the same number of prisoners and civilians from Ukraine who were then taken to Belarus for medical treatment.
The swap is understood to have taken place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last night that Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a sustainable, long-term, comprehensive peace agreement once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.
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But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks to end the fighting as diplomatic manoeuvring continued.
Meanwhile, European leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army's battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.
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